The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector having a locking device for reliably securing the electrical connector to a circuit board.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,943,244; 5,540,598; 5,630,730; 5,709,556; and 5,727,970 each disclose a conventional connector to be mounted on a circuit board. Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional electrical connector 85 is mounted to a circuit board 84 by a locking device 80. The locking device 80 has a fixing portion 83, a base 82 and a pair of feet 81. The fixing portion 83 is attached to a housing 851 of the connector 85, and protrusions 811 of the feet 81 extend into a hole 841 of the circuit board 84 to secure the electrical connector 85 to the circuit board 84 and to properly position terminals to contact corresponding solder pads. However, the conventional connector 85 is supported on the circuit board 84 only by the protrusions 811, thus, if there is a need for repeated insertions/withdraws then the connection between the terminals and the solder pads of the circuit board 84 is not reliable, and signal transmission will be adversely affected.